Block-berry

You may have read that the UAE and Saudi Arabia announced that most of the key functionality of the Blackberry smartphone would be suspended as of Oct 11 (how about a two-fer on Sept 11 instead !??) due to 'security' concerns. They wanna spy on BobOnARoll's email and text mesgs? That'll be good for a yawn....

Hats off to them, though---at least we're getting a little more honesty about what they're up to over there. I always suspected all my in-country text messages and emails were being scrutinized---now it's confirmed that they probably weren't but soon will be if the UAE gov has its way.

Maybe my iPhanatic friends have been right all along.

OK, now that I'm a part-time UAE newspaperman, I get to imagine the way I might have covered this story. And, more creatively, how I wish the story had unfolded:


"Abu Dhabi, August 1----Marking an extraordinary reversal of fortune in the Middle East's telecommunications industry, the governments of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia released a joint communique today with Apple Corporation founder and CEO Steven Jobs, announcing the suspension of all email, text messaging, and web browsing capabilities of Research in Motion's Blackberry smartphone devices in service in their respective countries.

'The choice is clear,' said the UAE government in a short statement released to the press. 'The built-in videocam and gps functionality of Apple's IPhone 4U make it an ideal medium for ensuring the information, entertainment, and security needs of our nation.'. Echoed Apple's Jobs in a separately released statement from the company's California headquarters, 'we are grateful for the opportunity to provide a safe and secure smartphone environment for UAE users everywhere'

Under the new smartphone regulations announced today, all Blackberry users will be invited to exchange their phones for the new IPhone 4U."